Frost-preventer.



No. 762,476. ,PATENTED JUNE 14, 1904. J. W. FULTON.

FROST PRBVBNTER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.12,'1902.

N0 MODEL.

wc'fnesses 66. f

In venior :fames Wilson Jillian.

UNITED STATES Patented June 14, 1904.

PATENT O FICE.

FROST-PREVENTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,476, dated June 14,1904.

Application filed November 12, 1902. Serial No. 131,037. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs IVILsoN FULroN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at P0- mona, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful F rost-Preventer, of whichthe following is a specification,

An object of the invention is to provide simple and highly-efficientmeans for producing at will either dense smoke or smudge or an intenseheat for protectingtrees or plants in orchards, vineyards, gardens, andthe like against the action of frost.

In carrying out this invention I so construct the appliance as tointroduce the air in a superior manner and provide simple and improvedmeans for controlling the draft and the formation of either smoke orflame, as desired.

lVIy invention may be carried out in various ways, and the accompanyingdrawings illustrate the same in the form which I deem most desirable.

Figure I is a perspective view of an appliance embodying my invention inits preferred form, a separable-cover being shown in place and partlyopen. Fig. II is a plan of said appliance with the separable cover morenearly closed. Dotted lines indicate positions of parts when-the coveris more widely open. Fig. III is a section looking upward on line IIIIII, Fig. V. Dotted lines indicate the shape of blanks from which themembers of the separable cover shown are formed. Fig. IV is an axialsection on line IV 1V, Fig. II.

- Fig. V is an elevation of the appliance shown in Fig. I. Fig. VI is aperspective view of another form of appliance embodying a modifi cationof my invention.

Fig. VII is an axial section of the same.

7 1 designates a vessel having an inlet 2 in its wall and a downwardlyand inwardly extending deflector 3 above said inlet, said deflectorbeing desirably arched, as indicated at 4. JDesirably said vessel isformed of sheet metal, andthe-deflector 3 is formed of an inbent portionof the wall of such vessel. The Vessel may be of any desiredform-cylindrical, tapering, or flaring upwardly, as preferredthe topbeing open and the bottom closed.

In the form I deem most desirable the vessel tapers upwardly, as shownin Fig. I. In Fig. VI, I have shown it flaring upwardly; but 1 have notdeemed it necessary to show the vessel of cylindrical form, as this willbe readily understood without specific illustration.

5 designates in a general way a separable cover for the top of thevessel. Said cover is desirably formed of two leaves or members 6 and 7,respectively, pivoted together near one corner by a pivot 8 and adaptedto rest upon the top of the vessel to close the same when the members 6and 7 are brought together for that purpose and adapted to swing apartto provide an opening 9 at one side of the open top of the cover, whichopening extends from one side of the open top of the vessel inwardly andtoward the other side. I prefer to form the leaves 6 and 7 of this coverfrom oblong rectangular sheets or pieces of sheet metal, bending thecorners at one edge of each sheet down to form stops against the wall ofthe vessel to hold the cover in place and also to serve as handles foradjusting the leaves for opening or closing the outlet through saidcover.

Desirably the vessel is provided with a plurality'of inlets 2, and thesame are desirably oppositely. or diametrically disposed, thus to admitthe air evenly from opposite sides.

In the case of a small or medium sized appliance two oppositely-arrangedinlets will admirably serve the purpose; but in larger sizes a greaternumber of inlets may be found desirable. In some cases I may use onlyone inlet.

In the form shown in Fig. VI an inner vessel 10 is provided to containwater, while the outer vessel contains oil. Both the constructions shownare designed to burn oil in the perforated vessel 1 or 11 of theappliance; but in either construction the removable member, as the cover5 or the vessel 10, closes the top of outer vessel 1 to a greater orless extent, and thereby varies or regulates the amount of oil consumed,and consequently the amount of heat generated.

In practical operation the perforated vessel will be partially or whollyfilled to the openings 2 with some form of combustible,

desirably petroleum distillate or crude oil,and the top being partiallyor wholly open the combustible may be ignited, whereupon the air tosupply combustion flows in through the inlet or inlets in the wall andis directed downwardly and inwardly by the deflectors 3, therebyproducing inside the vessel and below the top thereof a rapid combustionand also producing a vaporization of the oil or other combustible, whichpasses out in the form of a smoke or smudge. hen the separable leaves 6and 7 of the cover are swung apart say about one-eighth or one-tenth ofthe circumference of the topa dense smoke or smudge will be produced. Byopening the top to a greater extent the combustion will be more completeand a portion of the smoke will be displaced by flame produced by thegreater combustion. When the top is fully open by the removal of thecover or vessel 10, an intense heat is produced.

With a vessel adapted to contain a gallon of oil below the horizontalslits 2 a dense smoke or smudge may be maintained for a period of fourhours, more or less, without replenishing the oil. IV hen the top isentirely opened, a like amount of oil would burn for about two hours.

By reason of the arched form of the deflectors the vessel may be filledto the top of the horizontal slits without closing the air-inlet.

In the form in Fig. VI the inner vessel 10 is desirably of suchcross-sectional area at the top compared with the top of the externalvessel 11 that the outlet around the inner vessel 10 is a narrow annularslit.

12 designates inwardly extending ears formed by cutting vertical slitsin the rim of the outer vessel 11 and bending the strips thus formedinwardly to engage the wall of the inner vessel 10 to support saidvessel, the same being desirably tapering, so as to rest upon said ears.l urthermore, the ears 12 are desirably twisted, as shown, to bringtheir inner edges into vertical position and are then trimmed to lit theinward slope of the inner tapering vessel.

By tapering the vessel upwardly the draft is made more regular and oilburns with less fluctuation or flaring. This effect is also secured bythe upward taper of the annular open space 13 around theupwardly-flaring inner vessel 10 in Figs. VI and VII, whereby the vaporsare condensed as they pass up in the vessel.

Now,havi1'1g described my invention,whatI claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A hydrocarbon-burner for the purpose specified, comprising a vesselhaving in its wall a slit, and having a portion of the wall above theslit bent inwardly to form a downwardly and inwardly slanting deflector,the inner edge of said deflector being arched or bowed upward above thebottom of said slit.

2. A hydrocarbon-burner for the purpose specified comprising a vessel,the wall of which is perforated and provided with an inwardly anddownwardly inclined deflector upon its interior for each opening, eachdeflector extending from a point above its opening and having a portionof the lower or inner edge above the bottom of said opening.

3. A hydrocarbon-burner for the purpose specified comprising anopen-topped vessel the wall of which is provided with openings and alsowith an inwardly and downwardly inclined deflector for each opening, theinner edge of each deflector being above its opening, and a removablemember supported by the wall of the vessel and partly closing the top ofsaid vessel.

4:. A hydrocarbon-burner for the purpose specified, comprising anupwardly-tapering vessel having a slit in its wall forming an inlet, andhaving the wall portion above said slit bent inwardly to form adownwardly and inwardly extendingdeflector above said inlet, the inneredge of said deflector being arched or bowed upward above the bottom ofsaid slit.

5. The combination of a vessel having one or more inlets in its wall anda cover formed of two leaves pivoted together at one edge and bent downat the corners of their outer edges.

In testimony whereofl have signed my name to this specilieation,in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, at Los Angeles, in the county ofLos Angeles and State of California, this 28th day of October, 1902.

JAMES WILSON FULTON.

\Vitnesses:

JAMES R. TOWNSEND, JULIA TOWNSEND.

